I am an Oregonian since 1998. My passion for coffee began 40 years ago, but I didn't start drinking Espresso type coffee until the early 1990's. After moving to Oregon I really caught the bug and spent large amounts of money to purchase espresso drinks for my wife and I every day.

We got smart and bought our first machine in 1999. It was a piece of junk, and we immediately upgraded to a starbucks barista machine. Within a year the machine was leaking, so we purchased a Saeco Super Automatic (Royal). I put over 18,000 shots on that bad boy, and it still works today, but is out in my garage due to my current machine. Less then two years ago I bought a Salvatore SES Semi Auto. It is light years ahead of the super automatics as far as producing an excellent shot of espresso. The machine has limitations and Salvatore has discontinued it, but he still honors that 6 year warranty.

My real passion is coffee roasting, because it is relatively easy to roast coffee. I don't claim to be a master roaster or an out of control alchemist like some folks I have met, but I can roast almost any specialty bean to a beautiful light roast in my first try. I bought a small commercial drum roaster in 2005. It is an electric drum roaster that can roast up to 1 Kilo. It is called a Torrefattore and is manufactured in Isreal. They are a newbie in the field, and I believe they formed the company in 2004. They have come a long way since then.

I have a friend that owned a café in 2005, so I roasted all the coffee for his business until 2007 when the chef managed to burn the restaurant down. I lost brewers, grinders, warming stations, etc. The owner decided to take the insurance money and get out of the biz. Oh well, at least he paid me for my losses, and I still had my roaster.

I am a retired service engineer, and having been a machinist, a machine tool builder, an electrician, an have degrees in computers, I love to build things. I built a DIY 1/2 pound stainless steel coffee roaster last winter and now roast every other day. It is much faster than breaking out the Torrafattore to roast, as it takes 25/30 minutes to get te big roaster to 450 degrees. I am done roasting and cleaning up the mess in that time with the DIY roaster, and now my beans are 1/2 days old when I grind them.

Lastly, I am a newbie here, but did a lot of lurking a couple of years ago on this site in order to make an informed decision on the Salvatore SES Semi-automatic I purchased. It has performed as advertised and I expect to keep it at least until the warranty expires.

That is a cool little contraption, but not really for entertaining. On holidays or parties, I am the man that pulls at least 30 to 40 shots. Thats a lot of work and I enjoy it, but I can pull a shot every minute or so with my Salvatore. How many shots per gas canister?

Hej, i am new, i signed up because i enjoyed reeding the posts and reviews. I thought I could contribute to the site so I signed up. I know quite a bit about coffee, I really like espresso, I am quite passionate about making espressos...

Hi. My name is Lisa. I am from New York State and an avid Mocha drinker. I found a pre-brewed instant Mocha that tastes like a freshly brewed cup. Fancy coffee machines need not apply. It is full-bodied, reasonably priced and easy to prepare with no messy cleanup. Simply boil 9 ounces of water and enjoy! Perfect for the professional with little time to spare that thrive on the sustained energy this coffee provides. Does anyone else here drink pre-brewed coffee? I am here to learn as much as I can about the growing and harvesting process of Arabica beans in Asia.

Hello, my name is Cillian. I'm from Dublin, Ireland. I've spent the last few years working in a café, a starbucks and a restaurant, making coffee. Out of work at the moment and tired of spending my dwindling savings on expensive coffee every day, I decided to get myself an espresso machine. Used the numerous helpful reviews here to make a decision and got myself a Gaggia Classic & an Isomac inox grinder. Overjoyed to be able to roll out of bed and make a decent coffee :) Will be asking lots of questions very soon!

I am back- though I couldn't remember my old log in information at all. :( Oops- it had been a while. but I absolutely enjoy coffee! I have a Le Lit machine (that I'm going to list for sale as soon as my newbie status allows) and will be looking to upgrade. I'm still researching (hence why I'm on here again) and will also be upgrading my grinder. :)

I'm currently on a french press kick and have been enjoying beans from several local roasters- somehow here in Missouri my little city actually has 4-5 coffee roasters and some of them are quite nice.

As my grinder isn't up to par anymore (it served it's purpose and actually worked quite well, though I modified it, for several years) I am not able to use my Le Lit at the moment- the grinder will no longer grind fine enough. That's ok- it grinds perfectly fine for the french press- I like espresso as well and also enjoy a cappuccino. I do love the blend of coffee and milk! Don't cringe coffee purists!

That's about it- I'm not an expert by any means. I just enjoy good coffee!

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